Emma and Daniel Talk Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 comes to theaters on November 19, and I promised you interviews with Daniel Radcliffe (who plays Harry) and Emma Watson (who plays Hermione), so here they are! Keep in mind, that they have already finished filming Part 2, so some of their answers refer to both movies. Sadly, we have to wait until 2011 to see Part 2, and all we can do now is imagine them in the final scene when they are all older. . .

Q: My friends nicknamed the 7th book Harry Potter and the Prolonged Camping Trip because of the uneven pacing especially in the beginning. What do you think about splitting the book into two films?

Daniel: You’re right, the first part is very different from the 2nd. The 1st part is an exploration of character and how these characters react to each other. They’re in a totally different environment. When Jo [Rowling] was writing the 7th book, she wrote to me, and referred to it, “I’m writing The Deathly Hallows and at the moment it’s like a very weird road trip,” and that’s kind of how we saw it going in. And the 2nd part starts out as a heist movie and then turns into a war film, so there are many different phases to the book, I think it will actually be what makes the film exciting and what makes it so different than the other films.

Q: In Deathly Hallows, what does being on the run do to Hermione, Ron, and Harry’s friendship? Did you use your own life experiences to act?Emma: I definitely think the kind of pressure that the three of them are under because they’re on the run, and the fear and the anxiety has an effect on their friendship. Ron particularly becomes very irritable, and Harry and Ron actually end up having a big fight, so Hermione is trying to keep everyone calm and together. So, Hermione is pretty crucial in all of that, but it definitely takes a toll on their friendship.
Yeah, I use my life experience and my experience with friends and friendships in my acting. Definitely. Definitely. When I’m acting with Harry, I always pretend he’s my younger brother Alex, who’s 17, because I feel like Hermione has that kind of sisterly or maternal relationship with Harry.

Q: Are there any embarrassing moments from the set that you could share? Emma: I had to kiss what feels like my two brothers. I mean, that was pretty bad. I would definitely count that as an embarrassing, awkward moment. Neither of them were bad kisses. That’s not the point, but it definitely was pretty awkward.

Q: Describe Harry’s emotional journey in this film, and also your own emotional journey given the fact that it’s wrapping up now. Daniel: Dumbledore leaves Harry this mission and almost no information apart from three rather cryptic bequests in his will to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, which make no sense at the time, but gradually as the films carry on, make more and more sense. And he’s hearing all this stuff about Dumbledore constantly, stuff he didn’t know before that makes him doubt the man’s integrity, something which he had never even questioned before, and —it’s always dangerous drawing religious comparisons—but it is sort of a Job-type test of faith and how far that faith can be pushed before Harry gives up. Ultimately every time Harry finds himself in that dark moment where he thinks it’s a worthless quest and he doesn’t even know why he’s doing it, something happens which just allows him to continue on. As far as his relationship with Ron and Hermione goes, it’s them realizing that Harry has no idea what to do. He has no plan— he’s just winging it, and so as they lose faith in him, he starts to become more paranoid and isolated, and I suppose angrier, but it comes across as desperation.
In terms of my own personal emotions, it was a very, very long film. It was very exciting. It was at times very hard work, but that’s why we do it and that’s why we love it. I didn’t have any of the more traumatic emotions that Harry had, but obviously it was very, very emotional. We all cried a lot. And since then, it’s been very odd. The first month away was strange, but luckily, there were lots of times where I saw people who worked on the films. I will know these people for the rest of my life, no matter where I go or what happens. So, yeah, there is some sadness in leaving it, but also now, I’ve gotten to the point where I’m excited about the future and I’m also very excited to see the films. You know, the journey is not over yet in the sense that people still have to see these movies and make their own opinions, and I’m excited to see what people think.

Q: What was going through your mind on the last day of filming? Emma: Oh my goodness. I can’t believe this is it. I can’t believe this day has finally come. I just thought it would never end, you know? I thought it would never be over. It just felt really strange, so I had to pinch myself. It was pretty weird.

Q: What was the scariest stunt you had to do? Emma: There’s a scene where we’re [trapped] in Gringott’s Bank and Hermione has this crazy idea to jump on the back of a dragon. She’s on this second story balcony and she jumps off the balcony onto the dragon’s back and doing that stunt was terrifying because I essentially had to jump off—it was a mat that caught me—but just doing the jump and everything was pretty scary.

Q: Daniel, what was the hardest scene for you? Daniel: To be honest, a lot of scenes I’ve completely forgotten about because you film something for 18 months, and if there’s something in the trailer from the 1st month of filming, it’s like, “Oh my God. I’d totally forgotten about the scene.” I suppose getting beaten up by Ralph Fiennes [who plays Voldemort] in the 2nd part was physically quite demanding. What I love about that scene is that it’s the moment that I’ve been wanting to happen for years. I’ve always wanted a moment when the magic is not enough and he just tries to kill Harry physically by beating him up. So that was a challenging scene, but I mean, there was a lot of physically challenging stuff in the film, but I love that. I love running up and down and falling over and getting hit around. I love all that.
The stuff early on in the 1st part with myself and Rupert [who plays Ron] where we’re fighting and hating each other, that was emotionally challenging, because it’s very hard to hate Rupert Grint, even in acting.

Q: Who is your favorite character in this movie, other than Hermione? Emma: I love Bellatrix. I think you will love Helena Bonham Carter [who plays Bellatrix] but just because she is so scary and crazy and evil and just the opposite of Hermione.

Q: There is a lot of secrecy as to what your make-up looks like for the older versions of you. Can you tell us about what went into looking older? Emma: It was a pretty lengthy process. I think it was like over 2 hours. But it was really subtle. They had like this thin film that they put on our faces which went into our wrinkles to make all of that happen. Really subtle details made a huge difference. I wore fake teeth and a wig, but it all looked really real, so it was cool.Daniel: Obviously, I was concerned about the aging scene and I was concerned about how we were going to do it and everything, but I tell you the makeup looks fantastic. Particularly, I hate to say it, but I’m very pleased with my makeup. Harry ages much more flatteringly than Ron does. I think as soon as they presented Rupert with the fat suit he was like, “Make it bigger.” We had great fun doing that scene and I think it turned out very well.

Q: Emma, you said you were almost exactly like Hermione when you were 9. In what ways do you think you’ve grown apart from the character since then? Emma: I hope I’m a little bit less serious than Hermione. I’m a bit more mischievous.

Q: What do you walk away with after 10 years, as an actor and as a person from the experience? Daniel: As you said, 10 years, it’s everything. I will never be able to watch one scene in any of these films without connecting it to the memory of that day on set or the memory of what was happening in my life. I walk away with a wealth of experience that actors would kill for in terms of the people I’ve been able to work with and watch and learn from, and the most amazing group of friends anybody could wish for, and I’m not just talking about the cast. So many of my best friends are in the crew, and these are people that I will know forever. I feel very, very lucky.

Q: Looking back, what one particular element would you redo? Daniel: If I were young enough, I would probably go back and do the first 2 again. Because I still find those very embarrassing to watch. To be honest, I don’t really look back on the films too much because I probably would just be sitting there going, “There is so much I want to change about what I’ve done.”

Q: Do you have one standout memory from filming these movies? Daniel: It’s not necessarily my favorite memory because that would be too hard to choose, but one of the moments I had where I stepped back and thought, “No matter how long you act for in the rest of your career, you will probably never get something like this to happen again,” was when I got to burst out of the water in the 6th film surrounded by a ring of fire. I think for a few years, I’ve taken for granted the fact that I get to play an action hero and it’s very rare that actors get to do that and it’s a lot of fun, so I’ll miss that certainly.

Q: Emma wasn’t able to change her hairstyle for 10 years because of filming so she cut off all of her hair after film wrap. Is there anything you weren’t able to do because it conflicted with your character? Daniel: Not particularly. I haven’t really even cut my hair since we’ve finished filming to be honest. It’s been growing and growing. I’ve always been. . . I was a lot less constricted than Emma has been probably in that respect.
Emma had sort of hinted that she was going to do that, so I wasn’t as surprised as perhaps the rest of the world was, but I think she looks fantastic. It’s a very, very cool haircut. But to be honest the girl could look pretty with a plastic bag over her head, you know. I mean, she’s a beautiful girl, so any haircut I’m sure would look wonderful.

Q: Emma, you threw a party for the whole cast on the last day. Can tell us about the festivities? Emma: I threw a dinner. I just bought a new apartment in London. I tried to make it look really nice. I bought tons of flowers. I lit candles everywhere and everyone had place settings and I made food for everyone to come and eat and also I put together . . . I made like a book for everyone and I had silly questions like who was your first crush on the set? What was your best memory? What was your worst memory? Who was your favorite director? . . stuff like that, that’s just really fun. And everyone had a piece of paper to write it all down, but we all discussed our answers and went around and listened to people’s stories and what they remembered. It was just a really nostalgic evening basically, just all of us sharing stories. It was a really nice evening and it was warm weather, so we sat outside as well, and I bought disposable cameras for the tables, so everyone could use those, and it was just fun. It was just chill.Daniel: It was lovely. It was fantastic. Emma cooked and she was very impressive. She was very much the hostess with the mostest. I’ve never had a dinner party in my life—the idea terrifies me, so I would have been so intimidated by that, but yeah, she got sort of the core of the young cast members and we all went round to her house and it was great. It was really, really nice, very dripping with nostalgia, all reminiscing about early days and how young and cute and innocent we all were. Yeah, it was a really, really good night and we were all very grateful. ‘Cause to be honest with you, if you talked to me or Rupert, neither of us would have had the wherewithal to put together a dinner party, so the fact that she did was really appreciated.

Q: Are there any souvenirs you took from the set? Emma: Yeah, I took my wand, and I took my time turner, and I took a cloak, and that was about it really.Daniel: The only thing I wanted was the glasses. I didn’t want the wand; I definitely didn’t want the broom. I actually ended up getting two pairs of the glasses. I got one—the lens-less—because often the glasses we wear on set are lens-less because of camera reflections and they’re the ones we use a lot of the time, so I wanted them from the 7th film, but I also got the lensed versions that we had from the very, very 1st film. I didn’t even know they still kept them. So I got two pairs of glasses, one from the 1st and one from the last, and I’m very happy and they’re both in prided place.

Q: Wizarding World of Harry Potter just opened and you had a chance to visit it. What was your favorite attraction? Daniel: The dragon challenge. That was the best part. I did it 5 times. It was awesome. I was convinced that I wouldn’t start feeling nauseous and then I really, really did, but it was just the coolest thing. I went on the front; I went on the back; I went at night. It was amazing. The Phelps twins (who play Fred and George) were on the other dragon and we saw our faces sort of steaming towards each other at 60 miles an hour almost gliding and then veering away sharply at the last minute. It was great.Emma: Just stepping inside, they’ve done it on a small scale, so the level of detail is just amazing and it feels very authentic, which I was really relieved and impressed by. I loved the sweet shop because I’m big into sweets, oh sorry candy. The dragon ride was amazing— it was so good. I went on it like four times back to back. And also the themed ride; I actually got really emotional. Out of everything I was expecting to feel, I was not expecting to feel emotional, but I got really choked up because there’s a hologram of the three of us that looks like we’re actually standing there talking to you, which is really bizarre. The whole ride is a big going through taking all the best parts out of all the movies so it brought back so many memories for me, so that was cool.

Q: Emma, how would you describe Daniel and Rupert when you first met them and at the end of the series? Emma: It’s funny. It started out that Dan and I were the shy ones and Rupert was the talkative one, and then we seemed to swap. Rupert hardly speaks. You’re lucky to get anything out of him these days, and then Dan and I do a lot more of the talking. Dan is really intelligent and very sweet, and Rupert just has a wicked sense of humor and he’s very eccentric and very unique in the way that he does things. He’s like a big kid. I feel like he’ll never grow up, which I love.

Q: Have you ever had a young fan think that you really know magic? Emma: Yeah, I’ve had kids be scared of me because I think they thought I was going to do something, which is kind of cute, which I love. It’s so, so sad when kids lose their imagination.

Q: Would you ever date a Harry Potter fan? Daniel: I wouldn’t date someone because she was a Harry Potter fan. That would be, I think, the height of egomania. But yeah, absolutely, if the person in question would be able to see me as something other than Harry Potter, then I would see no reason, because the truth is most people are Harry Potter fans. It’s hard to avoid them. Even girls I’ve been out with in the past have liked the films and loved the books, but it’s certainly never been the focus of a relationship.

Q: If J.K. Rowling called you up tomorrow and said, “I’m writing another book. I decided to come out of retirement and write more Harry Potter, would you want to star in that next movie?” Emma: Oh my goodness. No, I wouldn’t. It feels so complete what we’ve done. It would just be weird. No. No way. It would just be really strange.Daniel: No, probably not is the answer because 10 years is enough. I think the films have reached a rather perfect and wonderful conclusion, and I have had assurances from [Rowling] that she will not be doing that.

29 more days!!! This weekend I am going to start re-reading book 7 so I’ll be ready for the movie!! Join the STACKS Book Club and talk about Deathly Hallows with us.

I LOVE HARRY POTTER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT IS THE BEST SERIES EVER AND I CRIED WHEN IT ENDED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I THINK EMMA IS SO PRETTY. What about Reupert????????? He was important too !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sorry for excaimation points <3

I read all the books in 2months!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m a big fan of Hermione! I hear that the 7th movie is reallllllllly good! If you are going to see the movie or read the book, I’ll just say that there is a BIG TWIST at the end!

I absolutely love Harry Potter; my favorite movie was the prisoner of Azkaban, now I’m debating over the Goblet of Fire and Deathly Hallows part one. I cannot wait for part two, it’ll be amazing. My friend and I are in love with everything Harry potter. I’m so obsessed. Once again I love harry potter. Major thank you to Emma and Dan to giving the interview, I’m your number one fan. Oh and by the way Dan, I cracked up when you said Emma would look pretty with a bag over her head, you are so right.

I am a Harry Potter lover! HP books are great. Daniel, Emma, and Rupert are really great actors and actress’. I’m only up to the 5th book so far but i can’t wait to read the 6th and 7th books. As for the movie being split in two parts, Well it is a really long movie so it makes sense but the suspense is building up for people. They can’t wait to see it and are anxious for the second half to come out. I can’t wait to watch it too. Break a leg Daniel, Emma, and Rupert.

I LOVE HARRY POTTER! When I was 7 I really thought that I was a which, and when I was 11 I would go to hogwarts (Can anyone spell that?). On my 11th b-day mom made me a hogwarts (That word agin) acceptance letter, it was funny. She copied it down from something on the internet, but I spotted a dozen mistakes. And once I wrote a fan letter to Daniel saying he was the best harry potter player in the world. I guess I should stop typing now, but I LOVE HARRY POTTER!

I absolutely can’t wait until the last harry potter movie ( even though I will miss them). I have read all the books in the series, and the last one is PRETTY violent. I hope there isn’t as much violence in this movie (H-O-P-E)…P.s
My MOST fave character is Hermione (Emma Watson)! She rules!

Harry Potter may just be the best books and movies in decades. J.K. Rowling incorporates genius and magic= FLAWLESS. I can’t wait for the movie to come out and going to be there on opening day. As EMMA WATSON fan said, “Long live Harry Potter!”

I love Harry Potter books!! Can’t wait to see the movie!!! I was a witch for halloween! I got a harry potter poster book at a book fair and look at the posters every day! I already got the harry potter movie tikets!

Harry Potter books and movies are awesome I’ve seen and loved all the movies and am n the second book which is totally awesome!
I don’t want to get confused at the end of Deathly hollows Part 1please I want to see both movies at the same time!

Avalon High? Harry Potter is legendary and a true work of art. I cannot wait to see the movie and hopefully it lives up to the potential of the book. I wish J.K. Rowling would write more books, perhaps maybe Albus Severus’s life, I’m not sure. Long live Harry Potter!

I really like the books. I’ve read all of them. I’ve also seen ORDER OF THE PHOENIX and I can’t wait for DEATHLY HALLOWS to come out in theaters.And some parts look like you and Hermione really like each other.

Oh my goodness if you are reading this I hope you will understand!I LOOOVVVEEE The Harry Potter Books and Movies.I am most likely the biggest fan after the cast/director/authoress.I think I will die if Harry Potter becomes out of extinxion!Rock on Harry/Dan, Hermione/Emma, and Ron/Rupert!I;ve been trying to get a British Accent for a year now!I wanted to go to the Harry Potter Wizarding World park this summer, but darn time!

Love the books and movies since I started highschool lol, I’m now a 22 year old with a kid of my own and I am hoping she will also be a fan of HP can’t wait until she’s old enough to share the magic with me =]
I got to say it is sad to see it all come to an end, with the end of the 7th movie it really is a strong feeling of finality.
Cannot wait to see it though!
Oh and I’m dressing as Bellatrix for halloween XD

dude i love hp series cant believe its going to be over soon…. thr are so many sweet memories linked to this amazing series…. love you all guys harry, ron , hermoine, hagrid, dobby, hogwards,the twins.. all of you….

this is really awesome…………………..
daniel and emma both of your interview is good.I’m really happy to get information about this film and lots of.i love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love Harry Potter so much! I love it so much, my cousin and I both got tickets for the first premire of the Deathly Hallows at midnight! You guys are all amazing at your parts, and i love it!
#1 harry potter fan in the world!

Thank you for a thorough interview! I love how these 2 young adults have matured and I wil them playing the HP characters. What a shame that Rupert wasn’t part of this interview. HP books & movies 4 ever

It is so amazing that when these kids were cast for the part 10 years ago, that they would grow into the parts, and matured in their personal lives beyond them so wonderfully. It might seem easy to survive and thrive with all the publicity, but not everyone can, and they have turned into really delightful people. Wishing them continued success.

hi all. please note that hp 1 to 7 movies kinda ended like star wars 1 to 3. i will not be surprised if jk rowling wrote a series on how how voldamort came about and more detail about dumbledore life before hogwarts. just like star wars on how darth vader came about

i love love love all the harry potter movies. they truly are amazing! I’m sad both Dan and Emma said no to the last question though! cas that would be so cool if there was a movie later on of them as adults with their own kids or something!

awesome interview,im around the same age as they are and have been reading the books and watching the movies since i was young and feel like ive grown up with them,im probably gonna get emotional watching the last movie haha

I remember when I was 10 and I saw them in the newspaper and I can honestly say they were a big part of my childhood as I grew up with them from 10-20 in the films and books.
I wish Rupert Grint took part in the interview.
The dinner party sounds very nice and well thought out.
I agree, there should not be any more movies/books after this. What JK Rowling already did is great closure.
Congratulations!

I would love to see those pictures from Emma’s dinner party! Saying goodbye to Harry, Ron, and Hermione will be very painful…they have been a huge part of our lives for so long. They will live in my heart always. Thanks to JK Rowling for her gift to the world.

Dear Dan and Emma,
I love Harry Potter’s movies an books, I’ve re-read them twice! I’m a huge fan! My friends say I’m obsessed with Harry Potter, which I am. I have my own fake wand and I’ve been to some of the places you have filmed. I make Harry Potter Fan Club Magazines which people actually read. Sometimes I do wish it was all real. I can’t wait till the 7th movie comes out. It will be so exciting! I LOVE Harry Potter, Ron Weasley,Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Hagrid, Dumbledore,ect.
The interview was fantastic, it was very interesting. they have matured so much.
I LOVE YOU GUYS!
Yours Truly,
Robynn

WOW! Great, great interview. I love hearing about the cast members’ experiences with the movies. And good job, Emma! You were smart to keep the wand and the Time Turner.
Biggest, biggest, biggest, biggest, biggest, biggest, biggest fan, Zach.

I would LOVE to see J.K. Rowling write at least one book about Harry’s parents: how they met, their days in the OOP, perhaps their days at Hogwarts, and just touching on both sets of Harry’s grandparents. Mainly I just want to read about the generation before Harry and how everything came to the night Harry’s parents died and the first book (Sorcerer’s Stone) begins.

I have loved every book and movie and cannot wait till the final two come out………some people seem to think an active imagination no matter what age you are is not a good thing….well I beg to differ….I love getting lost in these movies.

This sounds awesome, but WHY in the world do they always give all ideas to Hermione? Escaping on the dragon was HARRY’S IDEA. NOT HERMIONE’S.
I can’t wait for the next films where the screenwriter is not a Hermione stan :/

twelve years had passed since i took the first book to read, i was ten years old, i can´t believe the ending time has come. Maybe the difficult there is to many no actors people too, but all this stuff is natural. We must learn live with absence, ‘saudade’ in portuguese language.

nice blog bro hit me up on stacks so we can be friends and i can tell u sumo stuff dat i no to put on the blog or u can tell me sum stuff to put on the blog so hit me up tonight befo i go to sleep later man

Honestly, I’m really kinda sad that it’s all going to be over now. I mean it’s going to be totally awesome, and all, but I’m definitely going to miss the waiting and the excitement that it’s FINALLY out, and I FINALLY get to see it. I guess I still have one more, but it’s the LAST ONE. I’m still sad (and excited).
P.S. When are they going to make PJO The Sea of Monsters? THEY NEED TO DO IT NOW!!!
P.P.S. Who are “they”? Because “they” must be pretty powerful if everybody talks about them so often.

omg!
new hp film! i’m totally going 2 c it.i also thought it was soooo cool how daniel or emma didn’t seem like the egomaniacs that most celebs are portrayed as. r thay? idk. but they seem weel rooted young adults.looks like not everyone who becomes a star in holly wood goes thru the lindsey lohan phase.i’d sooo like 2 meet them bcuz they seem so down 2 earth.

Question. The statement Dan makes about “getting beaten up by Ralph Fiennes [who plays Voldemort] in the 2nd part” is like a moment in the book being taken and added on to for dramatic effect on the audience, right? Didn’t Voldemort throw one spell and there was no Crucio or anything extra when Harry finally stepped up to him during the final battle? Not that it bothers me, it’s never word for word. I was just trying to recall it from memory. Thanks!

great interview. they seem so much more mature now. Daniel’s honesty about his dissatisfaction with the first two films is welcoming in an atmosphere that’s too often full of corporate blind worship. I myself would redo the 2nd, not the first. there’s still a quirky charm to the childish, immature, nature of it, since they were all kids to begin with anyway. well they’re now part of a phenomenon that will go down in history for all time and people all over the world are waiting to see them screw it up for themselves. good luck.

In Dan’s answer to the question about WWHP, where he’s quoted as saying, ‘steaming towards each other at 60 miles an hour almost gliding and then veering away sharply,’ I think the person doing the transcription must’ve mistaken the word ‘colliding’ for ‘gliding.’ Otherwise it makes no sense.

I love hearing about their memories from set and how they feel about it all ending. I’m not an actor and obviously haven’t been in the films and I will bawl my eyes out in the theater, my childhood is truly closing with these movies and it’s nice to know, that it was hard for them to.
I love you all and thank you J.K. Rowling for everything <3

I LOVE Harry Potter books and movies. I just finished the 3rd book! OMG Sirius Black is his god-father! I love the twist. Can’t wait to see the 3rd movie. I love you Hermione, Harry and Ron. I am being Hermione for Halloween! CAN’T WAIT!
Sinceerly,
Harry Potter fan #1 Madison.

Hi! Maybe you could try to score an interview with the Stars of the new Disney Channel original Movie Avalon High. I think that would be so awesome. I mean, you did Den brother, right? If you got an interview with Britt Robertson and Gregg Sulkin (especially him) that would be SOOOOO awesome!

Dear Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson,
Since I love the Harry Potter books and everything you guys do. If you get a chance can you ask J.K Rowling if she will make another movie about Harry. But when his Parents was around and what happened to him when he was a baby.Could you get different characters to play as his parents and people who saw Harry when he was little before they all died but Harry showing how good Harry Potter Movies and Books really are.
Thanks Your #1 fan,
Natalie

i love the harry potter series . i’ve read it all three times and i’m reading them again. the movie is awesome. some people don’t like harry potter but i’ll always defend the harry potter series and movies. when i read harry poter books and watch the films i feel great.